Kirpianuscus
the first virtue - to see it is the best way to determine a child to read "Odissey". not surprising for an Andrei Konchalovski film. but surprising for the great way for give a so faithful adaptation of one of the great books of European culture. and a realistic Ulyses, different by the recipes of Kirk Douglas but giving the traits, vulnerabilities and virtues in the most convincing manner, in a great performance of Armand Assante. a film who impress. scene by scene. because it is real admirable work examples. and amazing science to use the special effects as tool and not as axis defines it in the splendid manner.
siderite
I've read a lot of reviews. Many are favorable and many say the film was dull. But the truth, as I see it, is that it is a very accurate depiction of the way people were back then. Odysseus is even recognized by one of the gods as "the first man to use his head". The rest of the characters are emotional, animalistic sometimes, the gods are petty and egotistic and always in conflict to one another and Ithaca is harder to reach than Hades's realm.The effects are not great, the actors play almost like in a Bible movie, but actually, it's the best adaptation I've seen yet. So give it a try, enter the world of hard men and gorgeous women from which only Irene Papas is Greek, and you might also like it as I did.
Petri Pelkonen
King Odyssey angers Poseidon after the Trojan war and is cursed to wander the Earth.He faces many challenges along the way.The story is based on Ancient Greek poem by Homer.I read it some years ago, and it works great even in our days.This miniseries (1997), which I borrowed as a VHS, is a very good adaptation.Its director is Andrey Konchalovskiy.Francis Ford Coppola is one of its producers.Armand Assante really nails the main part.Greta Scacchi is brilliant as his wife Penelope.Isabella Rossellini is divine as Athena.Same thing with Bernadette Peters, who plays Circe.Eric Roberts is great as Eurymachus.Irene Papas is amazing as Odyssey' mother Anticlea.Geraldine Chaplin is marvelous as Euryclea.Christopher Lee is terrific as Tiresias.Vanessa L. Williams is very good as Calypso.Very good work by Michael J. Pollard, who plays Aeolus.Alan Stenson's work as Odyssey' son Telemachus is also very good.This looks quite amazing from time to time, like when those men face the cyclops Polyphemus.And his return back home, as a beggar, is really something.Those men have to fear for Odyssey' wrath.
drystyx
If you thought the Kird Douglas version was bad, don't even bother with this one, which makes the Kirk Douglas version look like a classic in comparison. That may be why they made the movie. Homer's books (I've read the Iliad and the Odyssey) are extremely poorly written to begin with. Homer was a hack, and today would be considered a ludicrously excessive sycophant and butt kisser. He did nothing but praise kings and people in power. The more powerful you were, the more he praised you. That is all he did. His characters have no different qualities about them other than some are stronger and more powerful. It took later writers and directors to give character to these names. Through the ages, Ulysses has come to mean a more intelligent form of the character of Odysseus. This name embodied wisdom mixed with strength. This film gives him absolutely no wisdom at all. He is merely a murderous fiend with no saving grace, and no reason for anyone to like. Indeed, it is an ordeal to sit through, knowing that he will be victorious, and you don't care a bit about what happens to him. The other characters are given some attention, but we know they will die, and we await some saving grace from the "hero" which never appears. This film takes all the worst from the book and all the worst from todays films. It is truly a bomb.
AD
